Carton for hats.



FRANK S. LOGEE, OF WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

CARTON FOR HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 15, 1912. Serial No. 731,528.

To all wit-omit may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. Locnn, citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Westwood, in the county of Bergen and State of Newersey, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Cartons forHats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved package for straw or otherstiff hats.

Hithertofore, hats have been packed for shipment in tall cylindricalboxes of cross section shaped like but a little larger than the brims ofthe hats. In these boxes, the hats are placed one on top of the other,usually with a cylindrical ring of paper to support the brim of eachhat. lVhen the hats are thus packed, the brims are subject toserious-damage due to crushing and denting of the sides of the box and alarge percentage of the hats are often destroyed, the loss which-resultsin this way being an important item in the expense of distribution. Whenpacked in accordance with this and the various other methods now in use,the hats are always more or less inaccessible to the salesman whodesires to selectquickly a hat of the particular size wanted by acustomer.

In the applicants package, the hats are so arranged that each individualhat is in plain view and easily removed as soon as the ox is opened. Atthe same time, the hats are so supported that they are most effectivelyprotected from injury, for the brims are held out of contact with thewalls of the box and the package as a whole is so rigid that it is notapt to be crushed. To accomplish this result the hats are placed intiers and in vertical columns Within the box, the brims being horizontalwhen the box is in normal position and the adjacent hats inthe tiershaving their crowns oppositely disposed, all the hats in the samecolumns having their crowns turned in thesame direction, either up ordown. Between the hats, supporting and holding them, are paper shelvesor partitions, the general direction of these shelves being horizontal.There is one shelf to each tier and each shelf is de flected to conformto the hats of the corresponding tier forming chambers to inclose eachcrown on three sides. The side walls of each intermediate chamber areslightly inclined or otherwise so placed and formed that the crowns ofthe adjacent hats in the tiers are spaced apart and each is preventedfrom injuring those next to it. Preferably, the top edge of each suchside wall engages the crown and brim corner of one hat and the bottom ofthe same wall engages the crown and brim corner of the next hat in thesame tier. Thus hats of any type may be fully supported at these pointsand preserved against injury from contact with each other and crushing.Also in the preferred form of the device the walls are so placed thatthe base of each side wall overlies the top of the chamber next below,but the base of each such wall is spaced from the top of the chamberbelow, and this space is filled by the overlapping brims of the hats sothat these walls and the overlapping hat brims as hereinafter described,form a continuous support or strut which supports the box to preventcrushing.

The, box is preferably open on one vertical side and this openingcommunicates with all the hat chambers, so that when the cover isremoved, all the hats are exposed and any one may be removed withoutdisturbing the others. I

In the accompanying drawing I- have illustrated a package for strawhats, con? structed in accordance with my invention in,

its preferred form.

Figure 1 is a top plan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the coverremoved.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the box 1, as shown, isrectangular in shape, one entire face or side being open, and when thebox is in its normal position, as hereinafter described, the cover 2 orthe opening is in a vertical plane. This cover, as shown, is of theusual type, having edge flanges which fit over and inclose the sides ofthe box; however, this is immaterial and the cover may be otherwiseformed within the scope of my invention. The hats 3 are in verticalcolumns 4;, 5, 6 and horizontal tiers 7, 8, the adjacent hats in thetiers being oppositely disposed, but all the hats in any one column havetheir crowns turned in the Patented May 20, 1913.

at 10 to the end walls of the box. These shelves ,are deflectedintermediately of their length to form chambers or seats19 for the hats,each inclosing the crown of the corresponding hat on three sides andopen in the direction of the crown opening so that the openings of theadjacent chambers formed by each shelf are oppositely disposed. Hereinthe walls of each chamber are referred to as the top, bottom or backwalls 14 and 15 and the side walls 11.

In order to prevent lateral motion of the hats and contact between themand also with the walls of the box, the side walls 11 of theintermediate chambers are slightly inclined, so that the top 12 of eachsuch wall engages the corner 20 formed by the brim of the hat where itjoins the vertical wall of the crown, called herein the top and brimcorner. The bottom 13 of each of the inclined walls of the intermediatechambers similarly engages the corresponding corner 20 of the next hatin the same tier. Preferably, the inclination of the intermediatechamber walls also causes the base of each such wall to overlie the topof the chamber next below,and the side walls 11 may be otherwise formedto produce this result, and the side walls are spaced from the top andbottom of the next chamber, 2'. e. the top 14 of each chamber is spacedslightly below the bottom 15 of the next higher chamber on each side,and this space is occupied and filled by the brims 16 of the adj acenthats which, in the position described, necessarily overlap, z. 6., thebottom faces of the brims are in contact, the top hat of the middlecolumn with the second one of each side column, etc. Thus the brim ofone hat does not cut the crown of the next, and the side walls 11,spaced by the thickness of the two overlapping brims, as described, formwith these brims continuous struts or supports which extend across thebox and support it against crushing and consequent injury to. the hats.

It will be apparent that the hat chambers 19 which I have described,extend horizontally and transversely across the box, all of themextending inward from or opening outward to the cover opening 17, sothat when the box rests in normal position on its bottom 18, which, asrelated to the cover, corresponds to the side of the usual box, the hatsare all exposed to view, each in a separate chamber resting on ahorizontal support and-convenient to the hand of the salesman.

When the box is closed for shipment, it makes an economical and rigidpackage, the struts or partitions 11 serving not only to space the hatsapart and prevent them from injuring each other, but also to preventcrushing of the box and injury to the hats from this source. Theinclined walls 11 not only prevent lateral displacement of the hats butspace the adjacent hats vertically, so that there is no tendency toinjure them through distortion of the box. To prevent motion of the hatsin the direction of the length of the chambers and injury to the brimsagainst the cover and the back wall, any suitable packing may be used,either in the form of a paper board spacer or hay or excelsior.

I prefer to make the box and its partitions of paper board, but anyother suitable material may be employed, and I have illustrated myinvention as the same is applicable to one form of hat to which thestructure shown is particularly adapted, but I may vary the form of thepartitions to conform to hats having brims of curved cross-section or ofany other form adapted.

What I claim is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a carton for the packing, shipment andexhibition of hats, which consists of a container provided with a lidand internal partitions at right angles to the lid, each said partitionbeing deflected to form a plurality of threesided chambers of a size tocontain and inclose the crown of a hat and having an opening or a mouthdisposed toward the hat brim, the adjacent chambers formed by any onepartition being oppositely disposed, the corresponding chambers of thedifferent partitions being alined and disposed in the same direction,and the adjacent partitions being spaced at their nearest points by adistance substantially equal to twice the thickness of the hat brims.

2. As an article of manufacture, a carton for the packing, shipment andexhibition of hats, which consists of a container provided with a lidand internal partitions at right angles to the lid, each said partitionbeing deflected to form a plurality of three-sided chambers having aback wall and two side walls, the latter being spaced at their edgeswhich are remote from the backs by a distance equal to the diameter ofthe crown of the hat to be packed at its base, the back being of a widthgreater than this distance, and the corresponding chambers of thedifferent partitions being alined and disposed in the same direction, sothat the forward end of each side wall, 71. e., the portion remote fromthe back wall of that chamber overlies the back wall of thecorresponding chamber of the next partition.

3. As an article of manufacture, a carton for the packing, shipment andexhibition of hats, which consists of a container provided with a lidand internal partitions at right angles to the lid, each said partitionbeing deflected to form a plurality of three-sided chambers having aback wall and two side walls, the latter being spaced at their edgeswhich are remote from the backs by a distance equal to the diameter ofthe crown of the hat to be packed at its base, the back being of a widthgreater than this distance, and the corresponding chambers of thedifferent partitions being alined and disposed in the same direction, sothat the forward end of each side wall, 2'. 0., the portion remote fromthe back wall of that chamber overlies the back wall of thecorresponding chamber of the next partition, the said ends of the sidewalls being spaced from the said back wall of the corresponding chamberof the next partition by a distance sufficient to admit the overlappingbrims of two hats.

4:. A package consisting of a box with hats therein arranged inhorizontal tiers and vertical columns, the adjacent hats in each tierhaving the crowns oppositely disposed, but all the hats in each columnbeing disposed in the same direction, and partitions within the box, onefor each tier, each partition being deflected to form chambers, onechamber inclosing the crown of each hat on three sides.

5. A package consisting of a box with hats therein arranged inhorizontal tiers and vertical columns, the adjacent hats in each tierhaving the crowns oppositely disposed, but all the hats in eachcolumnbeing disposed in the same direction, and partitions within thebox, one for each tier, each partition being deflected to form chambers,one chamber inclosing the crown of each hat on three sides,

a side wall of the intermediate chambers having its upper portionengaging the crown and brim corner of one hat, while its lower portionengages the corresponding corner of the next hat in the same tier.

6. A package consisting of a box with hats therein arranged inhorizontal tiers and vertical columns, the adjacent hats in each tierhaving the crowns oppositely disposed, but all the hats in each columnbeing disposed in the same direction and partitions within the box, onefor each tier, each partition being deflected to form a plurality ofthreesided chambers, each having a back and two side walls, one chamberinclosing the crown of each hat on three sides, the side walls of theintermediate chambers being so placed that the edge of each remote fromthe back wall of the same chamber overlies the back wall of the nextchamber and is slightly spaced therefrom, the brims of the hats beingoverlapped at this point filling the space so that the side walls andthe overlapping hat brims form a continuous support for the box walls.

Signed by me at New York city, county and State of New York, this 12thday of November, 1912.

FRANK S. LO GEE.

Witnesses CHARLES D. EDWARDS, EMMA W. RENNE'.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

